Experienced Professionals are just as rare! Why does noone seem to care? Results of a short survey.

Translated from Jannis Tsalikis' blog entry: Auch erfahrene Professionals sind rar! Warum kümmert sich niemand darum? Ergebnisse einer Kurz-Umfrage

The whole world talks about it. Generation Y here, Gen Y there. The Babyboomers been here for a while. The last really grant and big Generation is today, well, fat and saturated (here a German article about it: F.A.Z.: "Wir sind viele"). Seriously though, in details we know hardly anything. Maybe: "Babyboomer – born between 1946 and 1964: Successful, liberal, decelerating" (another German article, but hey, every HR has heard of Robert Half: "Unterschiedliche Arbeitsmoral spaltet Generationen"). What do Babyboomers actually care about? What are persuading arguements to stay bound to companies? What about the todays recruiting of babyboomers?

Especially the last question ignited my interest. Last week I started a short survey herefore (52 Recruiter participated, by whom 60% regularily and about 33% occasionally are looking for established professionals).

As my short survey has really just touched the hint of  representativeness, it at least showed the recruiting of Babyboomers happens most likely via own, personal contacts. (Hereby, "very important"stated 61.2% and "important" 34.7%). When contacts aren't enough, Career Network Portals such as XING and LinkedIn are used to search and start the direct contact to potential employees ("very important" said 68.6%, "important" 23.5% recruiters asked). On spot #3 the search via usual Online-Jobportals took its place. By the way, Print Ads, according to those who participated, does little to not matter at all. 

Despite all efforts in regard to the question "Do you believe as Recruiter it was easier or more difficult over the last years to win established professionals for the company?", about 75% answered with "more difficult".












The question is, why do we keep discussing the Gen Y, the "Dissenters", if we have not even accomplished to understand how to win Babyboomers, let alone keep them? AND isn't there a hollistical discussion overdue for the longest? Ha, about this subject I will write about next week. Stay tuned.

JT 

How do job starters want to work?

Translated from Ralf Junge's blog entry: Wie wollen Berufseinsteiger arbeiten?

In my last post of the Us-Dissidents Series I was looking for answers to the question, if - the young job starters - need to be labeled. Today I am asking: How do these young starters actually want to work? 

Actually it is quite simple - we want to work self-determined and flexible, not necessarily bound to work hours and - place. Apparently there is a revision and rethinking at companies. The other day I just read an article in Karriere Spiegel written about "Job Sharing". Private occasions, photos, music or videos, nowadays we pretty much share (almost) everything - why not the job as well? Job Sharing is a concept of part-time working. One position is staffed by two workers (in part-time), sharing all tasks and having less than 40 hours a week to sit at the desk. Tasks and working hours are splitted between both workers. According to Karriere Spiegel this model of part-time working was excercized by about 20 Percent of companies in 2009. 

"Companies experiment with such things", said Susanne Schwarz, Head of human Resources at Exozet Berlin. I have met Susanne at the HR Bar Camp this year as she spoke about flexible workplace engeneering. Some of her Colleagues work abroad - practically in home office. This is possible as well and companies discover these kind of techniques working for them - literally. 

Now does this mean I want to persuade you to change your way of workplace and working hours radically? No. This would be a (few) step to far for now. But, I would like to inspire you to consider thinking beyond the the regular and conventional  possibilities of conditions designing regarding a job. Susanne Schwarz told me in a conversation: "The Management has to change, meaning, the way how they lead their employees. It needs to be more even and transparent. And this hierarchical Up-to-down delegation won't exist anymore hopefully. This is eaxactly what the young generation demands"

Exactly! We want to walk the discourse together and think about and realize possibilities, opportunities and changes, you name it, together! Talking to us on eye-to-eye level is important to us. And so should be our opinion to you as well. This is how we would liek to create a transparent company and working atmosphere in which we actually like to work at and everybody's attribution is contributing to the companies success.  

Do-Gooder. Dream Dancer. Waverer. Work-Refuser. These are merely a few names current career beginners are titled with often - describing the legendary "Generation Y", those belonging to the population group born between the years of 1980 to 1995.

I was born in 1984, which makes me a member of this particular generation. Since you, as dedicated readers and Human Resourcer, care so much about this generation, I would like to share my thoughts and opinion with you, trying to give you some insights on this matter. With this, a new category of our Blog is born: Us Dissidents. 

RJ

Understanding the meaning of one's job

Translated from Ralf Junge's blog entry: Den Sinn der eigenen Arbeit im Unternehmen verstehen 

When I walked by the newspaper stand last week, I noticed the current edition of the brandeins magazine right away. The brandeins magazine writes about all happenings regarding the economy worldwide, yet main focus is on Germany. The magazines cover displays a thinking bubble saying "Mondays, I could puke". This editions main subject: Motivation. 

 This triggered my curiousity since I busy myself with this on a daily basis as well on how bind employees to our company for the long run. Motivation, of course, is a key factor also. 

One of the most important motivators and drives in companies is the leading Management. Besides focussing on achieving company goals the leading Management has to actually care about the people who work with them. Potentials and talents have to bee spotted and accordingly pushed as well as clear opportunities for development have to be displayed. Kept in mind, every single employee is part of the whole thing called company. Nonetheless, everybody has to understand his or her personal distribute to their employing company and its advantage(s). As stated in the cover-article "Brennen. Ohne zu verbrennen" (engl: Burning. Without burning up.), Supervisors/Managing Members together with their staff have to discover the meaning and sense of everyone's personal situation. Turning the co-worker into a co-entrepreneur, giving them greater authority over their own responsibility, it says. This motivates and means and underlines appreciation. Hereby the company says through its behavior: you are important to us doing the job (daily) contributing to the company's success. 

Employees, especially young employees just int he beginning of their career, are longing for seeing and having a sense in their daily work. This motivates. Companie,  having no sense and (higher) meaning in their daily tasks, will have problems finding great talents to staff. Brandeins here named Banks and Insurances as examples for those being confronted with this kind of situation in nearest future. Special opportunities, however, have the new and innovative small to medium classed companies since they are more lucrative to and for young career starters. 

Overall the brandeins article doesn't show any new spectacular perception, nevertheless it shows again what is important to thesedays career beginners - no steeply rising careers nor status symbols, but sense-making work in order to contribute meaningfully and know one's adding to a companies success.

RJ

How much Social Media does Trainee-Recruiting need, Mrs Bembnista?

Translated from Jannis Tsalikis' Blog Entry: Wie viel Social Media braucht das Azubi-Recruiting, Frau Bembnista?

Every now and then I, as Section Leader Social Media at the BPM (BPM is an Association for Personnel People like me), am being asked, how complex Social Media Recruiting is and especially what the Outcome posssibly could be when - done right, of course. So I asked Justyna Bembnista, Project Manager Employer Branding/Personnel Marketing at Peek & Cloppenburg, what her personal Work Day looks like in the Position she holds.  She is a legit ;)  Social Media HR Practitioner and takes care of interacting with the young Work Force online. 

Justyna Bembnista, Junior Project Manager Employer Branding/Personalmarketing, HR/People & Talent Management (Peek & Cloppenburg KG, Düsseldorf)

Hi Justyna: I'll just stick right to the German You since you are firm to the Social Media Environment where it is normal. That's okay, right?** 
Sure, no Probblem!

Do 15 and 16 year olds address you with (the German) You also? 
This differs actually. Some type just as if they spoke to their Pals and others appear to be very conscious about speaking to a potential Employer, which is why they stick to the very formal 'Sie'.

Is the Advantage of Social Media the lowered Inhibition? A direct Access and Addressign? What Advantages does Social Media have offer for Employers on their Search of, let's say, Trainees? 
Social Networks gave Companies a Face. By providing Contact Person, Pictures, Videos and Posts us Companies have the Opportunity to open up and become more easy approachable. For instance, for our Facebook Fans P&C is no abstract Brand anymore, but Justyna and Alex and the Story the tell about their CoWorkers, Events and Work at P&C. Soziale Netzwerke haben Unternehmen ein Gesicht gegeben.

Another Advantage is the direct Feedback which we get from our Target Group. And thanks to all Mails, News, Questions and Reactions we are allowed to see what moves them daily. Such direct Feedback you won't get from any other Medium as the Social Media Networks.

Hm, are there Disadvantages also?
Due to the Social Media Networks fast Paces one tends to expect immediate Reactions. We strive to answer as fast as expected, yet, it is definitely a Challenge sometimes to keep all Channels at Sight, at the same time and especially to answer as fast as Users want their Answers. 

There are more and more Job-Portals equipped with new Personnel Marketing 2.0 Elements, like ausbildung.de for instance. How do you see their Relevance of such Portals for your Communication? 

The younger Target Groups grew up with Social Media Networks and due to this, have their own Way to communicate and collect Information in Comparison to us. This is why we give great Credit of Significance for such Portals like ausbildung.de. They work with interactive Elements and short on-point Content precisely pointed on the Needs of this very Target Group. 

Is Facebook actually the only relevant Network for Trainee-Recruiting? 
We consider Facebook to be more than just an Employer Branding Tool with which we are covering the Need for Information and represent us as Employer Brand at. More likely though we see Portals like ausbildung.de as Recruiting Tool, since they place Job-Ads aimed.  When chosing our Networks a differenciated Mix of Recruiting and Employer Branding Portals is important to us. We would not restrict ourselves to just one relevant Network. 

How many Hours a Day are you engaged in Coversations online? 
Usually, I am spending 2  to 3 Hours a Day on Answering Mails and publishing News Posts alone. In Addition I spend Time on Research and Benchmarking.


How many Applicants a Year approximately would you NOT get, if Peek & Cloppenburg didn't have somebody, like you, doing this particular Job? Do you collect   KPI's in regard to Social Media and Trainee-Recruitign?
Measuring the Success of Social Media Networks is one of the greater Challenges for a Social Media Manager. We can monitor a little via our Systems, however, it is hard to track Applications back to certain Social Media Means. Nevertheless, measuring Success is one important Factor in our Social Media Strategy which we improve constantly. Here simple and partially cost free Tools help, i.e.  Fanpage Karma.

Justyna, thank you very very much for your Time and the great Interview!


** Editor's Note: Yes, in Germany you are not supposed to get to the You right away since we still have a 'higher', politer Form of "Sie" for all the Grown-Ups. ;)

Think out of the Box - New Concepts for In-House Trainings

Translated from Ralf Junge's Blog Entry:  Neue Konzepte für Weiterbildung im Unternehmen – Out of the box denken

I organized a Workshop about "Guerilla Learning" for the Think Tank-Event of the Initiative für karrierefördernde & faire Trainee-Programme (Intiative for Career supporting and fair Trainee-Programs), which took place on Tuesday in Frankfurt at Deutsche Bahn.

I have heard about the Concept of Guerilla Learning for the first time at this years HR BarCamp in Berlin. Sirka Laudon from Axel Springer represented this Topic there. I was so amazed by it which is why I contacted her to learn more about it and eventually hold a Workshop about it myself.  

Actually, it is really simply - but the Results are fantastic. Learning and Training Practices in Companies could become more exciting when this Concept is applied. Sharing and Spreading Knowledge can become easier and more effectively spread via different and extraordinary Channels rather than the regular andconventional ones known. Learning something is supposed to be Fun! With little Use of Means high Quality Subjects can be connected with Entertainment.  

Yesterday the Workshop Participants and I worked on these four Questions: 

(1) Where and at what Places can Learning take place?

(2) When can Learning start? 

(3) Who does participate?

(4) How and with which Means and Ways can Knowledge being shared and spread successfully?

The Participants were also supposed to think of unusual Things which might not appear significantly relevant in Terms of Learning at all - Things that do not have to do anything with Learning in the first View. Doing this a lot of Points came up. Input of Ideas and more Ideas just kept coming, I hardly could follow up putting them onto Paper.

(1) Places: Canteen, Beach, Elevator, Train, Airplane, Park, Bathroom, Bed
(2) Time: on the Way to Work, Lunch Break, in boring Meetings, while brushing Teeth, or doing Sports 

(3) Targetgroups: young Mothers, Singles, Bookworms, Athletes
(4) Methods/ Formats: Audio, Video, Apps, Trainings, Quiz, Competitions, Pictures

And this Way a lot of innovative Learning Concepts have been created. Great Examples of Ideas are Qui-Yoga, Learning Platforms and interactive Learning-Apps. It proved Guerilla Learning to be quite an exciting Concept for developing new Ways of Learning in Companies.

RJ


Editors Hint: You cannot come up with new Ways if you can't even see them. Change the Angle of your Views several times and you will have a brighter Sprectrum of Ways to take/use. And just do not forget: Go for it - think out of the Box!

Sloppy Baden-Württemberg Campaign. Isn't it?

Translated from Jannis Tsalikis's blog entry: Baden-Württemberg versaloppert sich mit "La deutsche Vita"! Oder?

The German Federal State of Baden-Württemberg became famous in Germany with the great Scholz & Friends Campaign "Wir können alles. Außer Hochdeutsch." (We can [do] everything. But High German). Meanwhile the German Agency "Hirschen" are taing care of this Client and its Campaign (W&V). I know, it is old hat. Yet, this week the Ad "La deutsche Vita." (an homage to la dolce vita, turned into la German vita) crossed my view in the Magazine "brandeins", and I asked myself: Has Baden-Württemberg became sloppy with this Employer Branding Camapign?! I know, I must lean over this Window too much. Especially since the site www.bw-jetzt.de  is highly spoken of. However, let us debate a little.

In the Ad it says i.e. "Besonders gerne kombinieren wir besonders Gutes miteinander: etwa spannende Jobs mit entspanntem Dolce Vita. Das Ergebnis? La deutsche Vita!" ("We love to combine the very good Things: for instance exciting Jobs with a relaxed Dolce Vita. The result? La deutsche Vita") Ah! Alrighty, thanks! The Advertisement and Website is packed with such creative Sentences which are Fun. But is it convincing?
There are no Hints or Links to a (or the) Company which possibly could hold such Promise. (Editors Note: Besides that, do Employees even get the Chance to encounter la dolce Vita much as desired? Check this older blog entry.) Same dissonant Scene you can currently find on its Facebook Profile. Little to less authentic Posts. So it won't make you wonder about the less participated "Liking" on the 31 May Post about the "La deutsch Vita"-Motive with the Sentence "Das Leben ist euch nicht dolce genug? Kommt nach Baden-Württemberg!" ("Life is not dolce enough? Come to Baden-Württemberg!") receiving a total of 12 Likes when having 7,000 Fans on FB - odd and bad, let's pretend the current floodings are responsible for the low Participation on BW's Facebook *EN.

W"hat do you think about this? Does this Campaign even make Sense?


JT

Axel Springer looking for talented Fellow Traveller

Translated from Ralf Junge's blog entry: "Mitreisende gesucht"

The Digital Natives grew up with modern Technology. The Internet has become a part of everyone's daily life. Networking and Information in  real-time are important to them. 

Now another Generation is entering the Job Market. The Specialists and Leaders of tomorrow are certainly wooed which is why more and more Companies are focussing their Personnel Marketing Activities to be channelled on and to them.  Media Company Axel Springer is staging itself with a  founding   legend of great digital companies such as Apple or Google. 

"It doesn't matter where you come from. As long as you know where you want to go" are the final words of the Video displayed above. The Media House wants to strengthen its Position as Connoisseur of the Digital Industry and launches this new Campaign as Recruiting-Medium in hopes of finding qualified Talents who will join the Companie's Journey towards being the "leading digital Media Company". There is a lot in the pipeline,for instance, a Media Campus is supposed to be  sprouting up in Berlin, Germany. On top of that Axel Springe is supporting the Start-Up Event-Line "hy!", which is taking place in Berlin as of now.

In September 2012 already, BILD-Chief Editor, Kai Diekmann, travelled to the Silicon Valley so he could catch a glimpse of the local Start-Up Scene and of course for networking with such. Where his Journey took him, you can see at his optical Metamorphosis into a Nerd. Surely looking forward to the Media House's development.

Axel Springer succeeds in drawing Interest and Attention with this rather unusual and blahblah-less Personnel Marketing Campaign.

RJ